Traders Buy High Volume of Block Call Options (NYSE:SQ)

Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors acquired 113,304 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 88% compared to the typical daily volume of 60,134 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SQ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Macquarie reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Friday, July 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Block from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Block from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Block in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Block currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $87.52.

Insider Transactions at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of Block stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $30,318.27. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,977,784.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Roelof Botha purchased 434,405 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $57.55 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,007.75. Following the transaction, the director now owns 434,405 shares of the company's stock, valued at $25,000,007.75. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 471 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.37, for a total transaction of $30,318.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 92,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,977,784.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 28,179 shares of company stock worth $1,833,962. 10.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Block

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Block in the fourth quarter worth about $112,000,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Block in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Block by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 6,439 shares of the technology company's stock worth $498,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its position in shares of Block by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 16,720 shares of the technology company's stock worth $1,293,000 after buying an additional 1,897 shares during the period. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in Block by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 145,365 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $11,244,000 after buying an additional 10,921 shares in the last quarter. 70.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Block Stock Performance

Shares of Block stock traded up $1.72 on Thursday, reaching $66.40. The stock had a trading volume of 7,222,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,631,771. Block has a fifty-two week low of $38.85 and a fifty-two week high of $87.52. The business's 50-day moving average price is $64.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.82 and a current ratio of 1.82. The stock has a market cap of $40.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 86.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 2.52.

Block (NYSE:SQ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The technology company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.84 by $0.09. Block had a return on equity of 3.77% and a net margin of 3.47%. The company had revenue of $6.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.40 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Block will post 1.72 EPS for the current year.

Block Company Profile

Square, Inc provides payment and point-of-sale solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's commerce ecosystem includes point-of-sale software and hardware that enables sellers to turn mobile and computing devices into payment and point-of-sale solutions. It offers hardware products, including Magstripe reader, which enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Contactless and chip reader that accepts EMV® chip cards and Near Field Communication payments; Chip card reader, which accepts EMV® chip cards and enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Square Stand, which enables an iPad to be used as a payment terminal or full point of sale solution; and Square Register that combines its hardware, point-of-sale software, and payments technology, as well as managed payments solutions.